“I was a disruption to the image of country music.”
Shania Twain isn’t afraid to admit that she changed the country’s landscape. In a new Netflix documentary titled Not Just a Girl, directed by Joss Crowley and out July 26, Twain reflects on a nearly 40-year career that went from singing in small-town Ontario bars as a child to unexpectedly care for his siblings in Ontario. 22 after her parents were tragically killed in a car accident, to a superstar artist who dominated country, transitioned into pop and became one of the best-selling artists of all time. (Twain’s 1997 album Come on Over still holds the record for the best-selling studio album by a female solo artist, with more than 40 million units sold.)
Not Just a Girl gives fans an inside look at Twain’s rise in the ’90s, with Twain herself giving a thoughtful look at the hard work, perseverance and creativity that fueled her songs, music videos and its iconic fashion. Twain, as well as a solid cast of affiliates and fans, ranging from former managers Mary Bailey and Jon Landau to artists Avril Lavigne, Kelsea Ballerini and Orville Peck, are also brutally honest about the sexism artists face , noting how it was particularly tough. to be a woman in the country.
While Not Just a Girl makes a clear case that Twain’s influence lives on today in artists like Ballerini and Taylor Swift, the documentary is also filled with memorable quotes that illustrate the struggles and triumphs that Twain experienced , and shows just how influential he is. strength it was and continues to be. Below, CBC Music has highlighted 10 of the best quotes from the film.
“Growing up in an abusive home was horrible, but I shut myself off with music to block out everything else, so all I could see, hear, think, imagine was music.” — Shania Twain, on growing up in Timmins, Ontario.
“I mean the sound, that voice, the control, then, it brought tears to my eyes. That’s the amount of emotion that was in the voice… I thought, right from the start, this little girl had a opportunity.” — Mary Bailey, who would become Twain’s first manager, and for whom Twain opened when she was just 11 years old.
“You have to work three times as hard as the average guy in country music to get a shot. Being relentless was the only way.” – Shania Twain
“If you do what I’ve done in my life, sell records, you basically know when you’ve got one. You don’t have to have golden ears or be a genius. You just know. Enough so that I can go to my head at New York and say, “Hey, I’m going to spend more money than you’re comfortable with this. Because I think we’ve got a really big one.” – Luke Lewis, head of Mercury Nashville Records, on Twain’s breakthrough second album on the label, The Woman in Me.
“I think Shania takes these universal ideas of love and trust and discovering who you are as a young woman, and the push and pull of bad days and good days and life and all these things that are universal themes for songwriting. , and makes them sound like they’ve never been written before. Sure, there are all these songs about feeling good as an empowered woman, but then there’s “Man I Feel Like a Woman.” You know what I mean? It’s like, that’s the song.” — American country artist Kelsea Ballerini
“You know I’ve always said that I think that country music, just in general, I’ve always been surprised that there haven’t been more openly gay country musicians, because I think that, at the heart of it, country music is a disappointment. Unfortunately, feelings of inadequacy, feelings of loss, and you know, that’s unfortunately a gay experience for everybody at some point. I mean, it definitely was for me, for a long time. And I think when you can find a Musician who can take advantage of that and write a song about it, and also do it in a colorful and campy, playful and even humorous way, like even laughing at himself, I think he’s also a very important experience of gay culture, too. It came through the stereo and made me feel safe, I guess, as a little kid.” —Orville Peck
“When I lost Mutt I guess I was thinking that the pain of it was just as intense as losing my parents. And you know, it was like a death. It was the end, the permanent end of so many facets of the my life. And I never got over the death of my parents, you know what I’m saying? So I’m thinking shit, I’ll never get over this. How, how can you get over it? So all I can do is determine how I to continue from there. How am I going to get out of this hole I’ve fallen into? Just like that. I had to take baby steps. How to write songs was the first.” – Shania Twain is grieving her divorce from Mutt Lange, her longtime co-writer and producer, who cheated on her with Twain’s best friend.
“I say it all the time: I don’t think I would have the career that I have, and the career that I want to continue to have, if Shania wasn’t Shania.” — Kelsea Ballerini
“To me, Shania Twain is a superstar that I had the privilege of singing on stage with when I was 14. And she was very helpful in getting me recognized and noticed as a young Canadian singer.” — Avril Lavigne
“I was always very bold and outspoken about what I thought and my view on things as a woman in particular. My view on relationships, the way I felt women should be treated, respect and I still feel the same way. , so I’m just going to continue with that message.” – Shania Twain